All of the character names, with the exception of George, are all names of characters that appear in the five George A. Romero 'Dead Films'.
Director J.T. Seaton was almost arrested for murder when he discarded a mattress, covered in fake blood, by the dumpster behind his apartment. A neighbor spotted the bloody mattress and called the police, fearing that someone might have been killed. When eight police officers arrived at JT's door, he had to prove to the officers that the mattress was just a prop from a horror movie and not evidence of a crime.